Drainage-valve.



J. R. RENIPF.

DRAINAGE VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED 1101711913.

1, 127,282. PatentedfFeb. 2, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 1.

J. R. RENIFP.

DRAINAGE VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.1,1913.

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.Terras It. RENIFF, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

y DRAINAGE-VALVE.

Application filed November l, 1913.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JAMES R. RENIFF, a citizenof the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook andState of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDrainage-Valves, of which the following is a specification.

The drainage valve which is the subject matter of the presentapplication for patent is designed more vparticularly for use inconnection with the steam heating-apparatus of railway-cars.

In all railway-car heating-apparatus it is of the utmost importance todispose of the waters of condensation in the radiator pipes after steamhas been shut off. Steam is admitted to, and cut off from, the radiatorpipes by means of what is commonly called an angle-valve. When thisvalve is open, steam passes to the radiator pipes, and thence through atrap, and from the latter to the atmosphere. However, if there is notenough steam supply to force its way through the radiator pipes, thesteam condenses and lls the radiator pipes with water, which is liableto freeze and thus result in bursting of the pipes. Anglevalves veryfrequently leak, and thus admit a small quantity of steam into theradiator pipes from which it cannot escape, resulting in the pipesfilling up with water, and to prevent this the present invention hasbeen designed, the same comprising an automatic drainage-valve which islocated between the angle-valve and the radiator. Thus, if theangle-valve leaks, the steam and condensation are allowed to escape tothe atmosphere without entering the radiator pipes.

The invention also has for its object to provide a simple and eliicientdrainagevalve, the same comprising a novel and improved combination andarrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that the invention may be better understood, reference is hadto the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation showingthe application of the invention; Fig. 2 is a central longitudinalsection of the drainagevalve; Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 3 3of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 4 is a section onthe same line looking in the opposite direction, and Fig. 5 is a detailin perspective showing the valve guide.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 2, 1915.

Serial No. 798,700.

Referring specifically to the drawings,

denotes a branch pipe leading from the steam main and extending throughthe floor G of the car. Inside the car, close to the floor, an ordinaryangle-valve 7 is connected to the pipe 5, the outlet end of which valveis connected by a short pipe 8 to the steam inlet end of thedrainage-valve casing 9, the steam outlet end of said valve casing beingconnected by a pipe 10 to the radiator pipes 11. The drainage-valve isthus located between the angle-valve and the radiator pipes, and steamcannot pass to the radiator pipes without passing through thedrainage-valve casing. Between the steam inlet and outlet ends of thevalve-casing 9, the latter has an outlet 12 for the waters ofcondensation, to which outlet is connected a discharge pipe 13 passingdownward through the floor 6 of the car to discharge into theatmosphere.

From the outlet 12 a curved neck 14 eX- tends into the valve-casing 9,said neck having a passage 15 which communicates at one end with theoutlet, and at the opposite end with the interior of the valve-casing.The neck points toward the steam inlet end of the valve-casing and itterminates in a vertical seat 16 for a -valve 17 which latter is a flatwing having at its top edge two laterally spaced ears 18.

In the valve-casing 9 between the valve 17 and the steam-inlet is apartition 19, the lower half of which slants in the direction of saidvalve and has a port 20. In front of this partition is a guide rib 21depending from a disk 22 which seats in a neck 23 at the top of thevalve-casing. The disk is held in place by a plug 24 screwed into theneck against the top of the disk, and having a wrench socket :25 tofacilitate its application and removal. Upon removing the plug, the diskand its guide rib can be removed from the valve-casing, after which thevalve 17 is also removable, without disturbing the valve casing or anyof the piping. The rib 21 has its lower edge curved to correspond to thearc which the top edge of the valve 17 describes when it moves towardand from the seat 1G and the ears 18 straddle the rib, whereby the valveis guided. The rib is in front of the partition 19, and the latterserves as a stop' to limit the swing ofthe valve to open position. Thevalve is free to swing back 0E its seat until its upper end strikes thepartition. The bottom edge of the valve is beveled to form a knife-edge26 on which the valve swings. When the valve 17 is seated, steam passesthrough the port 20 into that portion of the valve-casing 9 f into whichthe guide rib 21 depends, and then passes along opposite sides of saidrib to the steam outlet.

In operation, the valve 7 being open, steam passing through thevalve-casing 9 strikes the valve 17 and holds it tightly against itsseat 16. The steam therefore cannot escape through the passage 15, andit passes to the radiator pipes 11, from which it escapes to theatmosphere through the usual trap, which latter has not been shown as itforms no part of the present invention. When steam is shut olf byclosing the valve 7, there is no pressure against the valve 17, so thatit now swings back off its seat 16 until stopped by the partition 19, asshown by dotted linesin F ig. 2. The passage 15 is now opened to theinterior of the valve-casing 9, and if the valve 7 should leak, steamand condensation following such a small quantity of steam will quicklyescape to the atmosphere through the passage 15 and the discharge pipe13. This opening also yadmits more or less air which hastens thecondensation of the steam. This operation also immediately follows whenthe valve 7 is closed.

1t is a common every-day practice to ship baggage or express cars overlong distances, loaded with merchandise which must be kept cool. 1n suchcases the angle-valve is closed, but if it leaks steam-not .sufficientlyto heat the car, nor enough to pass through the radiator pipes to theatmosphere-steam condenses and freezes in the radiator pipes, leavingthe latter full of ice and burst, and thus necessitating new radiatorpipes before the car can be serviceable again. The same may be said ofpassenger cars, when steam is shut off and the angle-valve leaks. Thisdiiiiculty is entirely eliminated by the herein describeddrainage-valve, and the same is eiiicient and reliable in operation.

It is not the intention to make a tight joint between the valve 17 andthe partition 19, but on the contrary, the roughness of the partition asit is cast, will make a joint loose enough to allow steam from a leakingangle-valve to pass and enter the outlet passage 15 without effectingthe closure of the valve 17. However, the seat 16 must be steamtight,and the face side of the valve 17 will be constructed to make asteam-tight closure when seated. If necessary a weak spring 27 may beprovided to assist the unseating of the valve. It will be noted that theside of the valve which engages the seat 16 has a portion projeetingfrom said seat and facing the steam outlet end of the valve casingv9, orthat end which communicates with the radiator. Thus, the projectingportion of the valve is exposed to the condensation pressure, and theopening` movement of the valve is assured.

Thile I have shown and described the 'preferred embodiment of myinvention, it

will be understood that many changes in the structural details may bemade without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention ashereinafter claimed.

1 claim:

1. The combination of a radiator, a steam supply conduit thereto, avalve controlling the steam supply, a drainage outlet in the supply pipeon the outside of the radiator, said drainage o-utlet having a valveseat, and a valve engageable with said seat, the back of the val'vefacing that end of the conduit to which the controlling valve isconnected and being exposed to the steam supply pressure, said valvebeing closed by the pressure against the back, and that side of thevalve which engages the drainage outlet seat having a portion facingthat side of the lconduit which leads to the radiator, and being exposedto the condensation pressure in the radiator.

2. The combination of a valve casing having a ldrainage outletintermediate its inlet and its outlet, said ldrainage outlet having avalve seat, and a valve engageable with said seat, the back of the valvefacing the inlet end of the valve casing and being exposed to the inletpressure to hold the valve closed, andthe side of the valve whichengages the drainage outlet seat having a portion which faces the outletend of the valve casing, and is exposed to the back pressure of thedrainage.

3. The combination of a valve casing having a drainage outletintermediate its inlet and its outlet, said drainage outlet having avalve seat, and a valve engageable with said seat, the back of the valvefacing the inlet end of the valve casing and being exposed to the inletpressure to hold the valve closed, and the side of the valve whichengages the drainage outlet seat having a portion which faces theout-let end of the casing, and is exposed to the back pressure of thedrainage, said valve opening in the direction of the inlet end of thevalve casing.

4. The combination of a valve casing having a drainage outletintermediate its inlet and its outlet, the drainage outlet having avertical valve seat opening to the inlet Side of the valve casing, avalve engageable with said seat, and a ported partition in the casingbehind the valve engageable thereby at the limit of its swingaway fromits seat.

5. The combination of a valve casing having a drainage outletintermediate its inlet and its outlet, the drainage outlet having avertical valve seat opening to the inlet side of the valve'casing, avalve engageable with said seat, said valve having spaced ears atseating on the bottom of the Valve casing, l

guide means for the top of the Valve, and means for limiting the swingof the valve away from its seat.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J AMES R. RENIFF.

Witnesses:

M A Rm LAUPER, H. Gr. BATCHELOR.

Copies of this patent maybe obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

